The 2020 NFL season brought plenty of new challenges as the league looked to navigate through a global pandemic and avoid any setbacks that would create bottlenecks in the league scheduling. Ahead of the 2020 season, we’ve already seen some rules and procedures changes that will further enhance those efforts — including the potential forfeit of a contest if a team is too mired in COVID-19 cases to compete. But now we’re seeing at least one bit of carryover from the 2020 season; one that will benefit fringe roster players across the entire league.
The NFL will be maintaining the expanded practice squad rules and benefits that were implemented last year amid the pandemic. That means 4 more spots on each roster’s practice squad, 4 player protections on a weekly basis, more spots for more players with accrued seasons that would otherwise not qualify for the practice squad and more.
2021 #NFL Practice Squads
-16 players at a time
– Up to 6 spots can be veterans
– 2 weekly active roster call ups
– 4 player protections/week
– Minimum Pay: $9,200/week— Spotrac (@spotrac) July 23, 2021
The biggest impact for the Dolphins is, obviously, the four extra spots but also the lack of restrictions on who is eligible for the practice squad. Usually the limit on accrued seasons in the NFL is 2 or fewer — but without that restriction in place in 2021, the Dolphins may be able to retain more of their fringe talent on a week by week basis. It will make trimming the roster down from offseason size to active roster size a little easier, too; although the Dolphins’ cut players must still be subjected to waivers before being transitioned onto the team’s active roster.
In all, these continuation of 2020 practice squad policies gives Miami and the rest of the NFL more strategy in how to whittle down their rosters and, additionally, more strategy on who to dress for game day on any given week.